Israeli police stopped Jordan envoy from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque

The incident mirrored heightened sensitivity about Al-Aqsa compound underneath Israel’s new ultranationalist authorities.

ordanian ambassador to Israel, Ghassan Majali
Jordanian ambassador to Israel, Ghassan Majali, attends an occasion to current his diplomatic credentials to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin (not pictured) within the president's residence in Jerusalem [File: Abir Sultan/EPA]

Jordan has summoned the Israeli ambassador to protest police obstruction of the nation’s envoy throughout his go to to Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

In a press release on Tuesday, the Jordanian overseas ministry stated the Israeli envoy was handed “a strongly-worded letter of protest to be delivered instantly to his authorities”.

The letter included a reminder that the Jordan-run Jerusalem Waqf Division is the unique authority supervising holy websites in Jerusalem, together with Al-Aqsa Mosque, the assertion stated.

“Israel, as an occupying energy, should adhere to its obligations underneath worldwide legislation and the worldwide humanitarian legislation in direction of the occupied metropolis of Jerusalem and its sanctities, particularly the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque,” ministry spokesman Sinan Majali stated.

Israel should “put a cease to makes an attempt to vary the historic established order” in occupied Jerusalem, he added.

Based on witnesses, the Jordanian ambassador Ghassan Majali was stopped by Israeli police on the Lion’s Gate (Bab al-Asbat), on the northern facet of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and prevented from coming into the location on claims of lack of coordination.

The positioning, sitting on a sprawling plateau additionally house to the long-lasting golden Dome of the Rock, is revered by Muslims because the Noble Sanctuary (al-Haram al-Sharif) and by Jews because the Temple Mount.

The Israeli police, for its half, stated that Majali arrived on the holy website “with none prior coordination with police officers”, prompting an officer on the compound entrance who didn't recognise the diplomat to inform his commander in regards to the surprising go to. Whereas awaiting directions, officers held up Majali, together with Azzam al-Khatib, the director of the Jerusalem Waqf. The ambassador refused to attend and determined to go away, Israeli police stated.

“Had the ambassador briefly waited a number of extra minutes for the officer to be up to date, the group would have entered,” the police stated, stressing that “coordination” with Israeli police was routine earlier than such visits.

Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, stated that the incident goes to the center of Jordan and Israel’s relationship on the subject of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

“There's something known as the established order – an settlement successfully that enables the Jordanians to be custodians of that compound,” he stated. “They are saying they don't want Israeli police permission to enter the location.”

‘Uncommon provocation’

Footage broadly shared on-line exhibits Majali, amongst different Muslim worshippers, on the limestone Lion’s Gate entrance to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound within the Previous Metropolis. An Israeli police officer blocks his path and yells at Majali in Arabic to return, based on the video. Al-Khatib will get on the telephone because the guests argue with the officers amid the crackle of the policeman’s walkie-talkie.

Some two hours later, Jordanian state-run media reported that Majali lastly entered the compound with out exhibiting any type of permission and held talks with al-Khatib, who “briefed him in regards to the Israeli violations in Al-Aqsa”.

Jordan has described the transfer as an uncommon provocation, and stated Jordanian officers don't want permission to enter the location due to the nation’s function because the official custodian. The dominion has additionally cautioned Israel towards taking “any actions that may prejudice the sanctity of the holy locations”.

There was no fast remark from the Israeli overseas ministry.

Tuesday marked the second time that Jordan has summoned the Israeli ambassador to Amman since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new far-right and religiously conservative authorities took energy. Earlier this month, Israel’s minister of nationwide safety, the ultranationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the Jerusalem holy website regardless of threats from Hamas and a cascade of condemnations from throughout the Arab world.

Jordan has been the official custodian of Muslim and Christian holy locations in Jerusalem since 1924, and was publicly acclaimed because the custodian of Jerusalem’s holy websites.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world’s third-holiest website. Jews, for his or her half, name the realm the Temple Mount, saying it was the location of two Jewish temples in historical instances.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, the place Al-Aqsa is positioned, through the 1967 Arab-Israeli Battle. It annexed the complete metropolis in 1980, in a transfer by no means recognised by the worldwide neighborhood.

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